Bottle-labeling machine.



No'.-7e2,s26. --PATBNTED JUNE"14,1.904.

T-. K. KEITH.

BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

. APPLIOATIONIILBD APE113, 1903.

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' PATENTBD JUNE 14, 1904. T. KEITH.

BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE. APPLIOA-TION' rnmn nn. 1a, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

6 BHEBTBSHE ET 2.

PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904.

T. KEITH. BOTTLE LABELING. MACHINE.

APPLIQATIOK, FILED APR. 13, 1903. I

' 6 SHEETS-SHEET 3- no MODEL.

DIS PETERS $0.. PNOYO-LI"NQ,I WASHINGTON, D D! TNE non No. 762,826. 7 PATENTBD JUNE 14, 1904;

TQK. KEITH. BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE- APPLIGATION FILED APBflS, 1903.

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N0- 762,826. PATENTED 14, 1904.;

T. K. KEITH. BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 13, 1903.

I no MODEL.

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No.762,826. PATENTED JUNE 14,1904.

T. K. KEITH.

BOTTLE LABELING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED ARR. 13, 1903. I

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UNITED STATES Patented June 14, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS K. KEITH, OF BOSTON, MASSACH-U SETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO CHARLES F. BROWN, TRUSTEE, OF

READING, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOTTLE-LABELING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 762,826, dated June 14;, 1904. Application filed April 13, 1903. Serial No. 152,409. (No model.)

To in whom may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS K. KEITH, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and 5 useful Improvements in Bottle-Labeling Machines,of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to enable a series of bottles contained in a case having separate cells or pockets for the bottles to be I removed successively from the casing, la-

beled, and returned to the case, the whole operation being performed automatically.

The invention consists in the improvements hereinafter described relating to a machine I having bottle-grasping jaws which arereciprocated vertically, means for supporting a bottle-holding case below said jaws and for feeding said case step by step in the directions required to bring each bottle-holding cell successively into position under the jaws, so that the jaws may withdraw each bottle from its cell and subsequently return it thereto, and means for applying labels to the bottles while they are held raised above the case 5 or holder, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a bottle-labeling machine 3 embodying my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 represent opposite endelevations of the machine. Fig. 4 represents a planview of portions of the machine, other portions being removed and certain parts shownin section. Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 1

looking toward the left.- Figs. 6 to 13, inelusive, represent detail views of parts hereinafter referred to. Fig. l trepresents a per spective view of one of the feed-rolls pro- 4 vided with printing characters.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, 12 represents an arm or standard forming a part of the supportingframe of the machine, said arm overhanging the bed or table 13, which supports the compound slide or carrier, hereinafter described, on which the bottle-holding case 15 is held.

17 represents represents a reciprocating rod or plunger vertically movable in guides 18 18 on thearm 12. To the lower end portion of the plunger 17 are pivoted at 19 a series of jaws 20, of which there may be any suitable number, three being the number preferred. Said jaws are adapted to grasp the neck of a bottle 21 in the case 15 and to lift the bottle from the case when the plunger 17 rises.

22 represents a driving-shaft journaled in the frame of the machine below the bed or table 13. Said shaft imparts motion to the plunger 17 and to the variousoperating parts hereinafter described. The means here shown for imparting motion from the driving-shaft to the plunger comprise acam 23, aflixed to the driving-shaft, a lever 24, pivoted at 25 to the supporting-frame, a lever 26, pivoted at 27, to the supporting-frame, a link 28, connecting the levers 24 and 26, and a bell-crank lever 29, pivoted at 30, one arm of said lever being forked and engaged With a collar 31 on the plunger 17 while the other arm bears against the upper end of the lever 26. A

spring 32, engaged with one arm of the bellcrank lever 29, normally depresses said arm and the plunger 17, said spring acting through the described'connections to hold the lever 24 yieldingly against the cam 23.

33 represents a ring adapted to encircle a bottle 21. Said ring is aflixed to one arm of abell-crank lever 34, Fig. 3, which is pivoted at 35 and is oscillated by means presently described to give the ring upward and downward movements, the ring being alternately raised above the bottle under the jaws and depressed to encircle said bottle. The bell-crank lever. 34 is operated to give the ring the movement above stated by means of a cam 36, Fig. 15, on the driving-shaft 22, a lever 37, pivoted at 38 and having a trundle-roll 39 bearing against the perimeter of said earn, a link 40, connecting the lever 37 with one arm of the fulcrum-lever 34, and a spring ftl, which normally pulls the ring-supporting arm of the lever 34 downwardly and holds the trundle-roll 39 in yielding contact with thecam 36. The ring 33 descends upon the bottle before the jaws descend to grasp it, the ring acting to open or spread the jaws as they descend upon the bottle, so that their hooked inner sides will pass over the enlarged mouth of the bottle, the ring subsequently releasing the lower ends of the jaws and permitting them to close uponthe neck of the bottle below its enlarged upper end. The jaws are provided with inclines 42 at their lower ends, Figs. 6, 7, and 8, these inclines striking the outer edge of the ring as the jaws descend and causing the opening or spreading of the jaws. The ring subsequently rises with the jaws and bottle and encircles-the lower portion of the bottle, steadying the same during the subsequent operation of applying the label.

The bottle-holding case is provided with the usual bottle-holding cells or compartments arranged in rows, means being provided for holding the case in a series of different positions under the jaws, so that the jaws will successively engage, raise, and return each bottle. The case 15 rests upon a secondary slide 43, which is movable back and forth on a primary slide 44, the latter having guides 45 embracing the edges of the secondary slide 43. Mechanism is provided for moving the secondary slide in the directions indicated by the arrow in in Fig. 1 and for moving the primary slide, and with it the secondary slide, in the directions indicated by the arrow Fig. 3. Step-by-step motions in two directions are therefore imparted to the slide and the bottle-holding case thereon, these motions being such that the bottles are brought successively under the jaws.

The mechanism for moving the primary slide comprises a cam 46, Fig. 3, on the driving-shaft, a lever 47, pivoted at 48 and having a trundle-roll 49 bearing against the perimeter of the cam 46, a spring 50, holding said trundle-roll yieldingly against the cam, a dog 51, pivoted to the swinging end of the lever 47, a ratchet-wheel 52, journaled upon a fixed bearing 53, its teeth' being engaged by the dog 51, a rod or pitman 54, pivoted at to the ratchet-wheel 52, a rock-shaft 56, journaled in fixed hearings on the supportingframe and having an arm 57, to which one end of the link 54 is pivoted, and another arm 58, which is connected by a link 59 with the primary slide 44. The oscillations of the lever 47, caused by the spring 50 and cam 46, impart a step-by-step rotation to the ratchetwheel 52 through the dog 51, said wheel imparting corresponding movements through the described intermediate connections to the primary side, the'latter being therefore moved back and forth in the directions indicated by the arrow 3 The means employed for moving the-secondary slide comprise a cam 60, Fig. 5, on thedriving-shaft; a lever 61, pivoted at its lower end to the supporting-frame and having a trundle-roll 62, which is held by a spring 63 in contact with the perimeter of the cam a vertical rock-shaft 64, journaled in bearings on the supporting-frame; a ratchet-wheel 65, affixed to said shaft and engaged by a pawl 66, carried by a reciprocating arm or carrier 67, engaged with the swinging end of the lever 61, the back-and-forth movements of said lever being imparted, through the arm or carrier 67, to the dog 66 and causing the latter to impart a step-by-step rotation through the ratchet to the rock-shaft 64; a cam 68, afiixed to the rock-shaft 64; a horizontal rock-shaft 69, having an arm normally held in the path of the cam 68; an arm 71, Fig. 1, affixed to the rockshaft 69 and projecting upwardly through a slot in the bed or table 13; a dog 72, carried by the swinging end of the arm 71 and adapted to engage teeth or projections 73 on the under side of the secondary slide 43, and aspring 74, which acts to retract the arm 71 and dog 72 and hold the arm 70 within the path of the cam 68. The described mechanism imparts an oscillatory movement to the arm 71 and a back-and-forth movement to the dog 72, the latter being pivoted to the arm 71 and pressed upwardly by a spring against the under side of the secondary slide 43. Each movement of the dog 72 in the direction of the arrow :1: in Fig. 1 moves the secondary slide one step in the same direction. This movement occurs after the primary slide has moved step by step a distance equal to the width of the bottle-case 15, so that after each of the bottles of a transverse row in the bottle-case has been acted on by the jaws the case is moved end- Wise a distance equal to the space between the center line of each row of bottles and the center line of the next row to bring another row into position to be acted on by the jaws. It will be seen that the step-by-step movements imparted to the primary slide are in opposite directions,said slide being moved step by step, first in one direction and then backwardly, whereas the movement imparted to the secondary slide is in one direction only. After the last bottle in the case has been acted on the case is removed, and the secondary slide is returned by hand to its starting position and is ready to receive another case.

Means are employed for applying a label to each bottle while it is held in raised position,

said means in this embodiment of my invention being organized as follows: 75 represents a coiled strip of printed labels mounted upon a stud or spindle 76, which projects upwardly from a bracket or holder 77, affixed to the supporting-frame. One side of the strip is gummed, and the strip is conducted beside a moistening-pad 78 and fed forward under the jaws 20 when the latter are raised, so that the forward end of the strip stands beside and projects across one side of the bottle. held by the jaws. The strip 75 is fed forward step by step by means of feed-rolls 79 79, mounted in suitable fixed bearings on the frame of the machine. The shafts of said feed-rolls are connected by intermeshing gears 80. The rolls are rotated step by step by means of an arm 81, pivoted at 82 to an oscillating lever 83, which is moved back and forth, as hereinafter described, the said arm 81 having ratchet-teeth which engage a ratchet-wheel 85, affixed to the shaft of one of the feedrolls 79. The oscillatory movements of the lever 83 cause the arm 81 to alternately engage and rotate the ratchet 85 and to move backwardly without rotating said ratchet, its teeth slipping on the teeth of the ratchet during its backward movement. The forward movement thus imparted to the ratchet 85 is imparted by the latter to the feed-roll with which it is connected and by the gears 80 to the other feed-roll. The lever 83 is oscillated by means of a cam 86, Fig. 2, on the driving-shaft, a lever 87, pivoted at 88 and connected at its lower end by a link or rod 89 with the swinging end of a lever 90, having a trundle-roll 91, bearing against the perimeter of the cam 86, the upper end of the lever 87 being connected by a link 92 with the swinging end of the lever 83.

The label-strip is pressed against the bottle by means of two jaws 93 93, which are pivoted at 9 1 to each other and to one armof a bell-' crank lcver95. Said lever is pivoted at 96 to the supporting-frame and is oscillated by means hereinafter described, so as to move the jaws 93 toward and from the bottle held in a raised position the jaws. The label-strip may be perforated or partially cut through at intervals between the sections of printed matter, so that the pressure of the jaws against the strip will have the effect of detaching a section of the strip constituting a complete label,

said section being pressed by the jaws against the bottle. I prefer, however, to provide means for cutting ofi each section from the strip. To this end-I have shown a fixed cutter 97 and a movable cutter 98, said cutters cooperating after the manner of shear-blades and being arranged to sever the label-strip just after the advancing end of the strip has been pressed against the bottle by one of the jaws 93. Said jaws are preferably arranged so that one of them engages the label and presses it against the bottle, as shown in Fig. 10, before the other reaches the extreme of its forward movement, so that the label iscut off before its .rear end is pressed against the bottle by the second jaw. The lever 95 is oscillated to move the jaws 93 93 toward and from the bottle by means of a cam 99, Fig. 2, on the driving-shaft, a lever 100, having a trundleroll which is pressed by a spring against said cam, and suitable connections 101 102 122 between the lever 100 and the lever 95. The jaws 93 cross each other at the point where they are pivoted, and each has a rearwardly-extending arm 103,which is beveled at its rear end, as shown at 104, Figs. 11 and 12.

105 represents a vertical pin which is yieldingly supported by a spring 106 andis arranged to occupy the recess formed by the beveled ends 104: when the jaws are projected against the bottle, Fig. 9. When the jaws are retracted, the pin 105 forces the arms 103 apart, and thus causes the-jaws 93 to swing outwardly away from the detached label, so that there is no tendency on the part of the jaws to drag the label from the bottle. The arms 103 are recessed at their inner sides to form an opening 107, Fig. 11, which receives the pin 105 when the jaws are retracted. The under sides of the arms 103 are beveled, as shown at 108, Fig. 13, these beveled portions bearing upon the pin 105 when the jaws are again moved forward, depressing the pin, so

15 is under the jaws, which are now assumed to be elevated. The ring 33 descends over the bottle below it, the jaws descending after the ring. The downward movement of the ring is arrested brieflybefore the ring reaches the extreme of its downward movement, thus allowing the ring to act on the inclines 12 of the jaws and open the latter before they reach the top of the bottle-neck. The ring is then moved farther downward,-releasing the jaws and allowing them to grasp the bottle-neck. The jaws now rise and lift the bottle from the case, the ring moving upwardly with thejaws and remaining in engagement with the lower portion of .the bottle, so that the bottle is steadied and prevented from tipping or swinging in the jaws during the operation'of detaching the label. While the bottle is being raised, the label-strip is fed forward, so that when the bottle reaches-its highest point enough of the strip for one label has been advanced beside the bottle. The jaws 93 then advance. one of the jaws pressing the outer end of the label-strip against the bottle. The cutter then severs a label from the strip and the second jaw then presses the rear end of v the label against the bottle. The pressingjaws then recede and the bottle-holding jaws descend and deposit the labeled bottle in the compartment of the case from which it -was removed. The jaws and ring then rise above the bottle, and the case is given a sufficient movement to bring the next bottle in position under the jaws, when the above-described operation is repeated.

I do not limit myself to the details of mechanism herein described, as said details may be variously 'modified without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The feed-roll 79, which bears on the outer" I acters, as shown in Fig. 14, adapted to print 3 the labels while they are being fed forward,

the bottle during the operation of applying the label.

The movable cutter 98 is oscillated by a cam 110, aflixed to one of the feed-rolls, Fig. 4, said cam forcing the cutter in one direction, and a spring 112, which holds the cutter yieldingly against the cam.

I claim 1. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, means for presenting a bottle to said jaws, and means for applying a label to the bottle held by the jaws.

2. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, means for presenting a number of bottles successively to said jaws when the latter are at one end of their movement, and means for applying labels to the bottles held by the jaws.

3. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, a'bottle case or holder, means for moving said bottle-case in the directions required to present the bottles successively to said jaws, and means for applying labels to the bottles held by the jaws.

4:. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, means for presenting a bottle to the jaws, a bottle-encircling and jawopening ring located below the jaws, means for raising and depressing said ring, and means for applying a label to the bottle held by said jaws and ring.

5. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, means for presenting a bottle to said jaws, feed-rolls arranged'to feed a label-strip to the bottle held by the jaws, and means for pressing apart of said strip against the bottle.

6. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, means for presenting a bottle to said jaws, feed-rolls arranged to feed a label-strip to the bottle held by the jaws, means for rendering one side of the strip adhesive, and means for pressing a part of the strip against the bottle.

7. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, means for presenting a bottle to said jaws, feed-rolls arranged to feed a label-strip to the bottle held by the jaws, means for pressing the outer end portion of the strip against a bottle held by the jaws, and means for severing a label from the strip.

8. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, a primary slide located below the jaws, a secondary slide supported by the primary slide and adapted to support a bottle case or holder, means for moving the primary slide back and forth step by step, means for moving the secondary slide on the primary slide in one direction step by step, said primary and secondary slides presenting a number of bottles successively to the jaws, and means for applying labels to the bottles held by the jaws.

9. A machine of the character specified, comprising a plunger, bottle-grasping jaws carried thereby, means for reciprocating the plunger and jaws, means for presenting bottles to said jaws, and feed-rolls arranged to feeda label-strip to a bottle held by the jaws, one of said rolls having printing characters adapted to print the strip.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS K. KEITH.

Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, TIMOTHY W. HICKEY. 

